Chapter 241: Sudden School trip
Late October.
Lately, the weather had been unusually bad. Autumn skies weren't supposed to have this much rain, yet starting today, the forecast said that for over ten days Tokyo would have constant rain. Yesterday, Sakurai had specifically checked the forecast and discovered that not only Tokyo but other places would also have rain; only one place would clear up for a few days — Kyoto.
Sakurai normally liked rainy days, but such persistent rain also made him a bit troubled.
So, in his future diary, he had written a wish: "Let the rain stop for a few days."
The next day, that line of writing vanished from the diary's page.
...
In the morning, during homeroom, homeroom teacher Masaki looked down at the class, her voice serious:
"Everyone, there is an important announcement. This year, the school has decided to strengthen extracurricular activities, and will hold a winter camp in the third semester."
The moment the teacher finished speaking, the whole class immediately buzzed.
"Therefore, the winter school trip originally planned to take place in winter will be moved up earlier to the beginning of November. The destination will be announced before this Friday, and departure will be next week."
As soon as Masaki-sensei's words fell, the class exploded like a marketplace.
The school trip, suddenly pushed earlier — no one in the class could have expected it.
Although many other schools usually organized the trip in autumn, Shuchiin had always kept the old schedule. Why did it suddenly change this year?
No one knew which higher-up came up with the idea.
...
"Sakurai-chan, it's the school trip!" Hayasaka Ai said, her face full of delight.
Hayasaka: ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
If it was the school trip, then they would have plenty of opportunities to get closer to each other!
On the surface, Sakurai seemed very happy, but inside he was thinking deeply.
He seriously suspected that the school had suddenly changed the schedule because just a few days ago he had written in the Future Diary that he didn't want it to always be rainy days.
"The destination of the school trip might even be overseas."
No, not necessarily.
"I really want to go to Hokkaido, last year was overseas, and because of my accent a lot of foreigners didn't understand what I was saying, it was so embarrassing." A male student complained.
Japanlish — those who knew could understand, but it would be strange if foreigners could.
"Going to Hokkaido in autumn? Isn't it cold?"
"Men aren't afraid of the cold! If you rely on willpower, you can endure it!"
"Idiot!"
"Say that again?"
Before the two could start arguing, the homeroom teacher cut them off, saying: "As for where we will go, the student council will make an announcement, so please wait patiently."
Shuchiin's school trip was funded by the sponsorship money that the student council received, so it was usually arranged by the student council.
But during the previous student council election, Shinomiya Kaguya had made empty promises, saying she would let the students choose the school trip's destination, so this time it might be a little more democratic.
…If it had been arranged in winter, then after New Year, when the students returned, they would have probably forgotten all about this term's student council election. Unfortunately, the school trip was suddenly moved earlier.
——
"What should we do? Although the sponsorship budget for the student council this year is almost the same as last year, if we go abroad… the budget for the December cultural festival might become tight." Shirogane Miyuki frowned, his face full of worry.
As the president, his most important job was actually to allocate funds for the different activities.
When organizing the sports festival, they had to reuse many old tools — wasn't that also because the budget wasn't enough? Sakurai and Shinomiya Kaguya's complaints back then, Shirogane had heard them all, but he couldn't replace things with new ones, because there was no money.
Money was already limited, it couldn't be spent carelessly.
Shirogane Miyuki's style as student council president, just like in daily life, was always stingy, but when it was necessary to spend money, he never hesitated.
He rarely bought clothes, but whenever he went out to play or to karaoke with the others in the student council, he was still very cheerful.
"Students will definitely want to go abroad more." Sakurai Saki also knew that compared to domestic trips, overseas was much more interesting.
"Last time was England." Sakurai recalled.
Students didn't need to pay out of pocket; shopping had to be paid for by themselves, but all travel expenses were covered by the school — no, by the student council.
"Just earlier when I walked past, I heard students discussing how they would vote." Shinomiya Kaguya also joined the discussion.
She finished preparing black tea and brought it to the table.
"Thank you." Shirogane Miyuki said, then took the cup and sipped.
What Shinomiya Kaguya had said was very important. This year's destination wasn't to be decided by the student council, but by all the students in the grade.
The three of them fell into silence.
Suddenly——
･°˖✧٩(^ᗜ^ )و ( ^ω^ )✧˖°.
"Yahoo~! What's everyone worrying about?" Fujiwara Chika appeared from the door with her familiar emoji, followed by Iino Miko.
Who knew where she had dragged Iino Miko from; judging by Miko's expression, she seemed very happy.
'Miko-chan seems to like Chika quite a bit.' Sakurai Saki looked at the two of them and thought to himself.
Chika also liked Miko — the way a child liked a toy.
Since she couldn't tease Sakurai Saki and Ishigami Yuu, she went to bully Miko instead.
Currently, the student council's food chain looked like this:
Sakurai Saki > Shinomiya Kaguya > Ishigami Yuu > Fujiwara Chika > Iino Miko
As for Shirogane Miyuki, he had already escaped this chain long ago. No one was in the mood to tease him anyway. As president, Shirogane Miyuki was already tired enough as it was; if they teased him further, he might just collapse one day without anyone knowing.
"As for the arrangements for the school trip." Shirogane Miyuki explained a few things.
Fujiwara Chika sat down next to Sakurai Saki. Listening to him, she nodded continuously.
"So, the problem we're facing now is, how to control the destination as much as possible, and from that reduce the expenses."
Shinomiya Kaguya: "We can bribe the students."
"No need, Kaguya-san. If it's by vote, I have a good idea!" Fujiwara Chika said with a giggle. "Actually, we don't need to care at all. Just hand out a survey form symbolizing democracy, and when the time comes, the destination will definitely be Kyoto."
"Fujiwara-senpai, why?" Miko asked, puzzled.
"Because, for domestic travel, there are actually only three options. Excluding Tokyo, the places everyone wants to go are: 1, Hokkaido, but it's autumn now, and it's very cold there. 2, Okinawa, although it's warm, but we already went once in middle school. 3, Kyoto."
After speaking, Chika revealed a sinister smile.
Chika: (≖⩊≖)
"As for overseas, there are no fewer than a hundred destinations. In the end, those who don't want to go too far will vote for where? Isn't it obvious? With the votes too scattered, Kyoto will definitely win with a slight advantage."
"Fujiwara-san, now I believe you are truly the daughter of a politician." Shinomiya Kaguya sighed. "The choice of the masses is always foolish. This devious policymaking style is very much your way, perfectly exploiting the characteristics of the crowd."
"And moreover, draped in the appearance of freedom and democracy, this plan won't arouse people's dislike."
Sakurai Saki looked at Chika's face.
He observed carefully for a while.
And reached a conclusion.
'In a few days, she'll regret it.'
And why?
Because Chika absolutely didn't want to go to Kyoto.
For now, it was better to ask directly.
"Chika, is there somewhere you want to go?"
"Umm~ France? Italy doesn't sound bad either." The secretary Fujiwara had just finished speaking, when she suddenly realized something.
Her little eyes darted around.
"Are?"
∘ ∘ ∘ (ᵕ—ᴗ—) ?
Did I just dig a hole for myself?